Michigan Wolverines News: A bunch of good news for Michigan football, latest on Jim Harbaugh and more

Three Michigan football players announced they were coming back on Sunday. We cover that plus more on Jim Harbaugh in our Michigan Wolverines news roundup.

Sunday turned out to be an amazing day for the Michigan football program as three, yes three starters from last year’s team have decided to return for another season instead of declaring for the 2023 NFL draft.

Zak Zinter was the second big-name offensive lineman to announce he was staying. That was the first news to break on Sunday and it came a couple of days after Trevor Keegan announced he would be sticking around for another season.

Zinter is Michigan football’s right guard and is definitely good enough to be an early draft pick. Keegan and Zinter could both be competing for playing time in the NFL next season. Instead, they will be back for what Michigan football hopes is another Joe Moore-award-winning O-line.

Yet, that wasn’t the only good news on Sunday for Michigan football. Soon after, Michael Barrett announced he would return for a sixth season.

Barrett had 72 tackles last season for the Wolverines with five tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Barrett has become a versatile part of the linebacking core and with Junior Colson, as well as Ernest Hausmann, the Wolverines are loaded at that position heading into 2023.

Michigan football also got word that Cornelius Johnson will be back for another season after catching 32 passes for 499 yards and six touchdowns. Of course, Johnson had two touchdowns of more than 70 yards against Ohio State.

But with Ronnie Bell leaving for the draft and Andrel Anthony transferring to Oklahoma, this is a good thing for the Wolverines, who also have Roman Wilson, and A.J. Henning, as well as a trio of freshmen from the 2022 class ready to make an impact.

When you add in Blake Corum and Mike Sainristil, that is six players that could have gone to the NFL but decided to return. Kris Jenkins is still deciding after previously saying he was going to come back, yet regardless, this team looks ready to run it back.

Latest on Jim Harbaugh

So who will be the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines in 2023? It sounds like Jim Harbaugh. There wasn’t much that came out over the weekend in terms of reporting.

According to Sam Webb of The Michigan Insider, there is some hope that something could be done this week and it feels like a deal is essentially done at this point.

However, it still needs to get signed and my biggest worry is still the Denver Broncos deciding Harbaugh is their No. 1 option should Sean Payton say no.

Hopefully, for Michigan Wovlerines fans everywhere and the health of the Michigan football program, now and in the future, this is resolved with a new contract this week.

Michigan Wolverines win in women’s hoops, hockey

The Michigan men’s basketball team notched a key win on Sunday against Northwestern. Kobe Bufkin scored 20 points and the Wolverines stayed within a game of first-place Purdue.

On Saturday, the Michigan women’s basketball team also scored an important win by knocking off Michigan State 70-55.

The Wolverines outscored the Spartans in all four quarters and got 17 points, as well as six assists from Leigha Brown. Emily Kiser added 14 points while Laila Phelia pitched in with 12.

Michigan women’s basketball is now 15-3 overall, as well as 5-2 in the Big Ten.  The Wolverines will play at Rutgers on Thursday.

Michigan hosted Ohio State for a two-game hockey series this weekend, earning a split. The Buckeyes won 7-2 on Friday before Michigan rallied for a 4-2 win on Saturday.

OSU struck first but Mackie Samoskevich evened the score and Jacob Truscott put Michigan ahead 2-1 by the end of the first period. Gavin Brindley added to the lead in the second and Michigan got a power-play goal by Rutger McGroarty in the third to seal the win.

The Michigan Wolverines will be back on the ice Friday and Saturday in Minnesota against the Golden Gophers.